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Tequila soda is a bubbly, refreshing 3-ingredient cocktail ready in 1 minute: just tequila, fresh lime, and bubbly soda water over ice!
Here’s a refreshing cocktail that’s so easy, you only need 1 minute. Yes, it really is that simple: meet the tequila soda! Cousin of the vodka soda, this drink pairs tequila and soda water for a refreshing, bubbly highball cocktail. I love highballs because they’re so fast and perfect for sipping on the patio or when impromptu visitors drop by.
In fact, this drink is my pick for summer when you’re looking for something laid back and lazy to sip. But it works for anytime! Here’s how to make it and a few fun variations, too.
What Is a Tequila Soda?
The tequila soda is a highball cocktail made with tequila, lime juice, and soda water. Adding water or soda water to liquor is an old concept: it goes back to the Gin Rickey invented in the 1880s! This concept paired gin with soda water and lime juice.
There are lots of other cocktails that use this concept, like the Whiskey Highball, Vodka Soda, and more. Even the Wine Spritzer and the Shandy come from this tradition.
Ingredients You’ll Need
How to make this easy cocktail? Grab these ingredients and pour them into a glass — you’re done in 1 minute!
- Tequila (3 ounces): any type of tequila: blanco or reposado
- Soda water (4 to 5 ounces): unsweetened carbonated water, not tonic water (unless you want to make a Tequila Tonic!)
- Lime wedges (2 wedges): from a fresh lime — don’t substitute bottled lime juice!
Variation: Make It Ranch Water
Want to turn your tequila soda into another trendy cocktail? Make it Ranch Water! Ranch Water is essentially tequila soda with a little more lime. Here’s what to know:
- Ranch water is a tequila highball cocktail that hails from West Texas. Some people say a Texas rancher invented it in the 1960’s. It was a word-of-mouth drink until around 2010, when bartenders in Texas started adding it to their menus.
- How to make Ranch Water? Just increase the lime in this tequila soda! Use 1 ½ ounces fresh lime juice instead of 2 lime wedges (head to this Ranch Water recipe). It makes it even more tangy and intoxicatingly delicious.
Other Ways to Mix Tequila with Soda
Were you thinking of mixing tequila and soda instead? Because you can do that too! Soda water is unsweetened carbonated water, and typically used in drinks like this one and the Vodka Soda and Whiskey Soda. But you can also mix tequila and soda! Here are a few options that mix well with tequila:
- Lemon lime soda (or Sprite): Add the same amount of lemon lime soda as the recipe below
- Sparkling lemonade: Add store-bought or homemade sparkling lemonade
- Tonic water: Tonic water is lightly sweetened and mixes well with tequila
- Cola: Try a Tequila and Coke, sometimes called a Batanga
When to Serve a Tequila Soda
The Tequila Soda is so fat and easy, it’s perfect for whipping up whenever you don’t want to think about getting out your cocktail shaker. Here are a few ideas:
- As an aperitif before dinner
- At cocktail hour when you want something crowd-friendly and easy to mix up in the glass
- On the patio on a hot afternoon with add a little extra lime
- For impromptu guests because you probably have tequila and soda water on hand
- As a lower-calorie option when you want a margarita without a lot of sugar
More Tequila Cocktails to Try
If you love tequila soda, here are a few more favorites:
Tequila Soda
Tequila soda is a bubbly, refreshing 3-ingredient cocktail ready in 1 minute: just tequila, fresh lime, and bubbly soda water over ice!
- Prep Time: 1 minute
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 1 minute
- Yield: 1 drink 1x
- Category: Drink
- Method: Stirred
- Cuisine: Cocktails
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 3 ounces* tequila reposado
- 4 to 5 ounces soda water
- 2 lime wedges**
- For the garnish: lime wedge
- Ice, for serving (try clear ice!)
Instructions
- Squeeze the lime wedges into a highball glass. Add the tequila and ice and stir gently. Top with the soda water. Garnish with an additional lime wedge. If desired, add more lime juice to taste (see the Ranch Water variation below).
Notes
*To convert to tablespoons, 1 ounce = 2 tablespoons
**Or for Ranch Water, use 1 ½ ounces lime juice.
Related Spirit + Soda Cocktails
Mixing a liquor or alcoholic drink with soda water is an old practice that dates back hundreds of years! This style of drinking is laid back and a nice way to make a low alcohol drink. You don’t even have to measure! Here are a few more cocktails in this family:
- Vodka Tonic Vodka and tonic water (or Vodka and Ginger Ale with ginger ale)
- Gin Rickey or Gin and Soda Gin, lime and soda water
- Gin and Tonic Gin and tonic water
- Tequila and Tonic Tequila and tonic water
- Tequila and Ginger Ale Tequila and ginger ale
- Whiskey Highball Whiskey and soda water or ginger ale
- Campari and Soda Soda water and Campari
- White Wine Spritzer, Red Wine Spritzer or Rosé Spritzer Wine and soda water
